Garrison Brothers Distillery, the first legal whiskey distillery in Texas, recently announced its plans to celebrate Texas Independence Day in three big ways: The Bourbon Takeover of Texas – a five-day culinary event leading up to March 2, Texas Independence Day; The Garrison Brothers Bourbon Brawl – a statewide bartender contest; and Liberations & Libations – an authentically Texan day party at the InterContinental Stephen F. Austin Hotel. (Garrison Brothers Distillery, 2019)

The Bourbon Takeover of Texas consists of five days of more than 50 distinguished bars and restaurants across the state featuring culinary and mixological specials that include Garrison Brothers’ Small Batch Bourbon. These limited-time offerings will be available at select establishments in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio from Sunday, February 24 through Saturday, March 2. The Garrison Brothers team will visit every participating location to taste, critique, examine and enjoy each cocktail, considering its potential for advancement to the second round of The Garrison Brothers Bourbon Brawl, a statewide, high-stakes bartender competition with a $10,000 cash prize. The $10,000 cash prize will be paid out by Good Bourbon for a Good Cause, a 501(c)3 public charity founded by the Garrison Family and their staff in 2018.

Liberations & Libations will be a more localized celebration of Texas Independence. Taking place in the heart of downtown Austin at the InterContinental Stephen F. Austin Hotel, the day party is scheduled to take place from 7:30a.m. to noon on Saturday, March 2, 2019. Texas-born businesses will showcase their hand-crafted products while Texas chefs and beverage-makers serve bourbon-infused brunch bites in the spacious ballroom. Tasting wristbands will be available for $25 and will include eight food and drink tickets. The party will take a brief recess from noon until 3p.m. and will kick off again with a happy hour from 3p.m. to 6p.m. Afternoon attractions include passed bourbon-infused bites by Chef Bryan Gibson, a roaming “redneck mariachi” duo and a silent auction benefiting the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation. A live auction will also be held at 5p.m. for an entire barrel of the award-winning Garrison Brothers Single Barrel Bourbon.

“Texas Independence Day…. also commemorates the day we released our very first batch of Garrison Brothers Small Batch Bourbon back in 2010. In keeping with tradition, we’ve released the current year’s vintage on this holiday every year since. This year we’re going all out, and we hope you celebrate with us at one of our three major events throughout Texas. Salud.” – Dan Garrison, founder and proprietor of Garrison Brothers Distillery